Thousands call for GM Pension Fund to ditch fossil fuels

Manchester Friends of the Earth

A petition calling for Greater Manchester's local authority pension fund (GMPF) to ditch dirty coal, oil and gas stocks will be handed in to the GMPF's Annual General Meeting.

Since the petition launch, over 5000 people have expressed their dismay at the Greater Manchester Pension Fund's ongoing policy to invest in climate polluters.

This response from Greater Manchester people came after it was revealed that over £1bn of local pensioners' cash lies with coal, oil and gas giants.

Today, campaign group Fossil Free Greater Manchester is set to hand in this petition at the fund's annual general meeting which is being held in Droylsden.

Chris Smith, a spokesperson for Fossil Free Greater Manchester, said: "With governments and car manufacturers across the world announcing their intention to ditch fossil fuels, any investments in fossil fuels are likely to become 'stranded assets' and are 'unburnable'.

Today, the pensioners of Greater Manchester and the public at large send a clear signal to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund: get out of fossil fuels before it's too late."

Nearly 750 organisations, representing $5.5 trillion of investment have recognised that fossil fuel companies are risky investments because of ‘unburnable carbon’ assets, and are divesting from fossil fuels. These include the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund and the British Medical Association.